Hyperloop a "Very Solid Idea," Says US Transportation Secretary

This weekend, over a thousand students from all over the world have congregated at Texas A&M University to pitch their prototype design ideas for Elon Musk’s Hyperloop. And apparently US Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx is totally onboard.

The Verge is on the ground at Texas A&M’s SpaceX Hyperloop Pod Competition Design Weekend. It reports that Secretary Foxx described the Hyperloop to attending students as a “very solid idea” and that the federal government has a “responsibility” to back Hyperloop innovation—possibly even help fund the programme.

Not unlike the internet, the SpaceX-backed Hyperloop is a conceptual series of high-speed tubes—except these tubes could launch you at warp speeds of around 760 mph. It’s completely pie-in-the-sky for some, but for a thousand of young people in Texas this weekend—and for the US government, possibly—it’s something seriously worth pursuing.